There are several alternatives to Evaporust on the market, all of which claim to be pH neutral and non toxic. If you need a lot of this stuff for a big project, it can get quite expensive.
After reading various user reviews on automotive as well as tool related forums, I chose to go with "D-Rust-It", which comes as a 10x concentrate, to be diluted into working concentrations with water by the end user (hence it's a bit cheaper than the other formulations, which are all supplied at 1X).
Below is the result after a rusty coat of mail had been soaked in a 1x solution of D-Rust-It for 72 hours (the images on the right are color photos, not black and white):
I was actually quite reluctant to do this, as I rather preferred the brownish hue of the mail coat when I got it. However, there were several spots in the thinner sections of the mail where the rings were almost rusted through, and rusty crusts covered the back of several torso plates. It was either doing something to stop the erosion now, or the coat won't be in the same condition I received it in when it comes time for me to pass it to someone else.
The traditional method of cleaning rusty mail was supposedly to stick it in a sand-filled barrel and roll the whole thing down a hill (modern versions of this approach make use of giant case tumblers). I contemplated doing that, and even bought a 50 gallon barrel and several bags of sand in preparation. Ultimately, I thought the soaking approach was going to be far less destructive and risky, yet a great deal more thorough...
Also, since the mail can't be properly waxed, Renaissance Wax was not an option for me after the coat had been cleaned. Instead I used Penetrol, a linseed oil based product that dries to the touch and should keep the coat rust-free for as long as I have it. If the next owner wants to bring back that rusty look, a dip in the paint thinner followed by a year or two of neglect will easily restore the coat to its "as found" condition.
Gene T
After reading various user reviews on automotive as well as tool related forums, I chose to go with "D-Rust-It", which comes as a 10x concentrate, to be diluted into working concentrations with water by the end user (hence it's a bit cheaper than the other formulations, which are all supplied at 1X).
Below is the result after a rusty coat of mail had been soaked in a 1x solution of D-Rust-It for 72 hours (the images on the right are color photos, not black and white):
I was actually quite reluctant to do this, as I rather preferred the brownish hue of the mail coat when I got it. However, there were several spots in the thinner sections of the mail where the rings were almost rusted through, and rusty crusts covered the back of several torso plates. It was either doing something to stop the erosion now, or the coat won't be in the same condition I received it in when it comes time for me to pass it to someone else.
The traditional method of cleaning rusty mail was supposedly to stick it in a sand-filled barrel and roll the whole thing down a hill (modern versions of this approach make use of giant case tumblers). I contemplated doing that, and even bought a 50 gallon barrel and several bags of sand in preparation. Ultimately, I thought the soaking approach was going to be far less destructive and risky, yet a great deal more thorough...
Also, since the mail can't be properly waxed, Renaissance Wax was not an option for me after the coat had been cleaned. Instead I used Penetrol, a linseed oil based product that dries to the touch and should keep the coat rust-free for as long as I have it. If the next owner wants to bring back that rusty look, a dip in the paint thinner followed by a year or two of neglect will easily restore the coat to its "as found" condition.
Gene T
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